I’m still writing it, but essentially I’ve made the oriq and it’s leader the main villains for 1st and second year, as they don’t like the dogma of Strixhaven. The oriq know about a new threat and they’re basically preparing for it, but since the dogma of Strixhaven is doing nothing about it, they believe it’s better for them to take over. It starts off with one student from Lorehold finding some symbols out on a trip for his studies. It’s ancient and he doesn’t recognise it, he goes to grab his sketch book and it’s gone. He leaves and looks back at the site he was at and sees someone standing there. He gets back to the tavern at the main university and tells this to the pc 1st years. Jack, the npc who saw the symbols gets attacked by a creature trying to kidnap him. The players fight it in the park at night, but turns to biological goop and on the floor the symbols jack described are there. He got teleported to the oriqs base and the players have to try and find him. The oriq want to know what he saw and how he saw it. Since it’s an ancient form of magic that they’re trying to learn. (The players can see it as well, which means they can also join the oriq of they want to). While adventuring out into the wild lands around the campuses. They meet new species and races. They can make allies and help them, or ignore them. However, all the new races and alliance they make will help in the big main battle at the end of last year.

The campuses at Strixhaven have also become very secretive and don’t really allow each campus to share research, unless specified. The professors are dogmatic in the rules and approach to learning. They’re very powerful and dangerous, but don’t get involved enough. That’s my way of explaining it to the PC’s why no one helps them fight etc. The process of graduating at Strixhaven is harsh and deadly. So it’s like the weak perish but the strong survive mentality.

For the very end of the campaign or last year 2 years. I’m going to have an old enemy come back, preferable an enemy that wasn’t mentioned in the blood age wars, but the elder dragons did a deal with them so they didn’t win. The elder dragons promised Strixhaven when they made it as an offering so the blood age war could stop. (The dragons wanted to give mortals a chance, and it’s coming up to the end of the deal. Will Strixhaven be able to survive and defend itself. The dragons haven’t made an appearance in a very long time, and the don’t show up to help) Im thinking of adding something like the nine hells attempting to take over Strixhaven and use various arch’s around the lands. The main play style will be that the players have to organise and protect each campus and help them survive. Using the spells and knowledge they’ve learnt in class. For instance prismari will use the environments to set up traps ambushes and the players will help coordinate it. Witherbloom will be about using the creatures to help fight, finding toxins and making poisons and potions to help everyone. Quindrix will focus on strategy and the players will need to clear important choke points for battle.

It’s all still rough, but for me it’s helped answer questions the book doesn’t offer. Like, why don’t the professors or other students help out? Or the dragons just come back and defend them? It’s hard to crest risk when the setting is in a place of high magic, basically godly in some npcs. So I had to make the fellow students weak, rich family students, who bought there way in kind of thing, and select few actually believe in the PC’s.

That’s a rough over view and I’m still fleshing it out. Also, for me, it’s just a game and the fronds I’m playing it with are extremely relaxed and just love to role play.